Friday, August 28, 2009

I picked up Meghan’s Legacy for the mystery/ suspense aspect alone and found it to be one of the best books that I have read. K.J. Dahlen most definitely knows how to write a chapter with one heck of a cliffhanger. I love how K.J. Dahlen’s mind works. Just when I thought I knew what happened, boom, another surprise! This book does contain a sensual romance and characters who sizzle together, but the main focus is on the mystery as, for this book, it absolutely should be. It’s what made the book a compelling and well crafted read. I found this book to be fast moving with a lot of sitting on the edge of your seat suspense. The villian is always lurking just one step behind Meghan and Quinn. I consider this book to be an instant pick me up book and I know that I will be reading it for a long time to come. I will definitely be looking for more work by K.J. Dahlen and this author has just become a mandatory add to my automatic to be read list.

Shortly after her twenty-fifth birthday Meghan Thorp comes back home. There’s only one problem, she doesn’t remember ever living here. At age three she lost her parents and her grandmother when an explosion blew up a cottage on her grandparent’s estate. Two years later she lost her grandfather in what was claimed to be an accident. Now twenty years later she returns and strange things start happening to her.When a friend of her grandfather tells her that her grandfather never believed the accidents that took her family were accidents at all, but murder, he encourages her to remember the two days in her young life that changed her forever.She doesn’t remember anything about the explosion or her grandfather’s death but when the nightmares return she knows she has to before whoever murdered her family gets to her. When she finds out that the someone behind the murders of her family might be her own uncle, Meghan can’t believe it. Especially when she realizes the reason behind the murders are rumors of Union gold buried on the property.

1. What lured you to writing suspense?I tried writing romance but I loved intrigue more. I love the fact that I can put my characters into a situation and watch how they get themselves out of it. Sometimes they just take over my story and make it their own. I like the fact that my books intrigue people enough that they want to keep reading. If I can make them want to turn the next page to find out what is coming next then I've done my job as a writer. When I first started writing someone told me that my books were predicitable. I vowed then and there that my books would have twists and turned you would see coming and I think I'm doing just that.

2. What is the hardest part of writing suspense?I think the hardest part is coming up with new ideas. It's also the easiest part of writing suspense. Alot of the time my books come from a single idea or phrase. I can build up an idea into a book. I start with an outline and go from there. Sometimes I stick to the outline but most of the time the story takes on a life of its own and I never know where its going to go until I'm done.

3. How long does it take you to write a suspense novel?I did a book in three weeks just to see if I could do it. It turned out to be a very good book, and led me to outline several more using the same characters.Most of the time I can write about three to five books a year.

4. Does research get easier over time? Do you utilize information gathered previously for your novel?Yes several years ago I began researaching by reading forensic and crime books. I have a very extensive library of my own with everything from forensic, to herbal medicine to criminal psycology. Some times I use the internet. I like to read and that knowledge is never a waste of time. I also like to impart of little bit of myself in each of my books.

Kim lives in a small Wisconsin town with her husband and dog. She can see the Mississippi river on one side and the bluffs where eagles fly on the other. She has two kids and two grandkids. Kim loves to people watch and she uses what she sees in her books. She loves to create intense situations for her characters and sit back and see what they do to get to get themselves out of trouble. Sometimes her characters even surprise her. Her characters come alive for her, and what starts out as just an idea becomes a story with unusual twists and turns. She loves to keep her readers guessing until the very last page.